At its December monthly meeting, the OS Council held an open house for
operating staff and discussed issues ranging from the finalization of the
Family Friendly Leave proposal to elections for next semester's council
leadership positions.

Council Chair Stephanie Higgs began the meeting by requesting feedback
from the council members and their constituents on the Family Friendly Leave
proposal, which has recently been the subject of frequent discussions at
council meetings. The current version of the proposal, which has been posted
and is viewable at the OS Council website:http://www.unh.edu/os-council/famfriendcostcon04.html, allows for operating staff to use up to 10 days of sick
pool time per year to care for a sick family member, tend to a new baby, or for
extended bereavement in the event of a death in the employee's immediate
family.

"In this version of the proposal, we really just explained a lot of
the rationale behind why families need to be able to use sick time in different
ways than they have in the past," Higgs said. The Family Leave proposal is
intended to expand the ways in which sick leave can be used by staff at UNH.

"Our hope is definitely that more staff members will start donating
more time from their own earned time/vacation days with this new policy,"
council member Lon Sattler said.

The council also held brief discussions on the elections of the
leadership positions for next semester's council. Current chair Stephanie Higgs
accepted a nomination and was voted in to serve again next semester, and
current council member Jason Brodeur was nominated
and voted in to serve as vice chair. The Council members will rotate the role
of Recorder.

After the initial portion of the meeting concluded, the OS Council opened
its doors for an OS Open House. Council members spent an hour meeting and
informally answering questions from operating staff about the responsibilities
of the council and hot issues important to OS. Council members encouraged their
fellow staff members to serve as a council representative.

"I would definitely encourage anyone to think about joining the OS
Council if they've got ideas that should be heard," council member Lori
Parent said. "I've learned quite a lot about all the departments at UNH
from being on the Council, and the meetings are just once a month. For the
amount you can get done, it's not a lot of time to donate at all."

The next meeting of the OS Council is Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 8:30 a.m. in Thompson
Hall Board of Trustees conference room.